Gators Ranked Second In Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll
Friday, December 23, 2005 | Baseball
On the heels of its best season in school history, a 48-23 performance in which it was the runner-up at the 2005 NCAA College World Series and the Southeastern Conference champion, the University of Florida was ranked second in Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 40 preseason poll released on Friday. Defending national champion Texas headlines the publication's top five, followed by the Gators, Oregon State, Nebraska and Rice.
Now in his fifth year at the helm of the Orange and Blue, head coach Pat McMahon returns 23 letterwinners from last season, including seven position starters, and welcomes 15 newcomers. UF claimed both the SEC regular-season and Eastern Division hardware with a 20-10 mark and reached the semifinals of the league's postseason tournament in Hoover, Ala. The Gators reeled off three-straight victories at the NCAA Gainesville Regional to advance to the Super Regional for the second year in a row, where it swept Florida State at McKethan Stadium to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 1998. At Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Florida overcame Arizona State, Nebraska and Tennessee in its bracket to become the first SEC program to reach the best-of-three championship series.
Among the top returnees in the field for UF include junior first baseman Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.), who was recently named to the 2006 Wallace Watch List for the National College Baseball Player of the Year, junior shortstop Adam Davis (Fort Myers, Fla.), junior catcher Brian Jeroloman (Wellington, Fla.), sophomore second baseman Brandon McArthur (Seffner, Fla.) and outfielders Stephen Barton (Miami, Fla.), Gavin Dickey (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Brian Leclerc (Clearwater, Fla.). On the mound, McMahon will be looking to the senior leadership provided by right-handers Bryan Ball (Punta Gorda, Fla.) and Darren O'Day (Jacksonville, Fla.).
Eight of the 12 SEC programs are listed among the top 40, including LSU (15th), South Carolina (17th), Tennessee (19th), Ole Miss (20th), Arkansas (33rd), Mississippi State (34th) and Georgia (39th). Three other schools from the league, Alabama, Auburn and Vanderbilt, were in the receiving votes' category.
Florida will kick off its 2006 campaign on Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m., when Cincinnati arrives in town to begin a three-game series. The contest with the Bearcats begins the 35-game home schedule at McKethan Stadium, where the Gators were 32-11 (.744) last year. Twenty-five of UF's 56 games during the regular season will be against squads listed in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I Preseason Poll
| Rank | School | '05 Record | Points | Final Rank |
| 1. | Texas | 56-16 | 496 | 1 |
| 2. | FLORIDA | 48-23 | 492 | 2 |
| 3. | Oregon State | 46-12 | 490 | 7 |
| 4. | Nebraska | 57-15 | 489 | 6 |
| 5. | Rice | 45-19 | 487 | 16 |
| 6. | Clemson | 43-23 | 484 | 13 |
| 7. | North Carolina | 41-19-1 | 482 | 21 |
| 8. | Florida State | 53-20 | 479 | 15 |
| 9. | Cal State Fullerton | 46-18 | 476 | 9 |
| 10. | Georgia Tech | 45-19 | 475 | 10 |
| 11. | Miami (Fla.) | 41-19-1 | 473 | 14 |
| 12. | Arizona State | 42-25 | 470 | 3 |
| 13. | Pepperdine | 41-23 | 469 | 23 |
| 14. | Missouri | 40-23 | 467 | NR |
| 15. | LSU | 40-22 | 466 | 19 |
| 16. | Long Beach State | 37-22 | 463 | 18 |
| 17. | South Carolina | 41-23 | 461 | 26 |
| 18. | Florida Atlantic | 37-24 | 459 | NR |
| 19. | Tennessee | 46-21 | 458 | 8 |
| 20. | Ole Miss | 48-20 | 456 | 11 |
| 21. | Southern California | 41-22 | 455 | 17 |
| 22. | Notre Dame | 38-24-1 | 453 | NR |
| 23. | Baylor | 46-24 | 450 | 4 |
| 24. | Tulane | 56-12 | 449 | 5 |
| 25. | Stanford | 34-25 | 447 | NR |
| 26. | Wichita State | 51-24 | 444 | 27 |
| 27. | TCU | 41-20 | 443 | 29 |
| 28. | Winthrop | 44-22 | 440 | NR |
| 29. | Oklahoma | 35-26 | 438 | NR |
| 30. | Southern Miss | 41-21 | 435 | NR |
| 31. | Arizona | 39-21 | 434 | 12 |
| 32. | Houston | 29-30 | 430 | NR |
| 33. | Arkansas | 39-22 | 428 | NR |
| 34. | Mississippi State | 42-22 | 427 | NR |
| 35. | San Francisco | 38-18 | 425 | NR |
| 36. | San Diego | 30-27-1 | 422 | NR |
| 37. | Stetson | 35-28 | 419 | NR |
| 38. | Washington | 33-22 | 415 | NR |
| 39. | Georgia | 30-25 | 413 | NR |
| 40. | Fresno State | 30-29 | 409 | NR |
-UF-
